Temple of the Skull

Setting and ambience were nice but puzzles felt challenging because the symbols, which are a regular feature through the game, could feel overwhelming because of quantity and similarities. The gameplay was quite linear which is a double edged sword: you can focus on the next puzzle immediately but if you get stuck, you eat up a lot of time. Also, having more people doesn't necessarily help in speeding up the effort. One of the tasks felt random that relied on a hint that is given to you in the mission briefing. The flow could have been better but despite the stop-and-start nature, you can escape the room reasonably well. Notepad needs to have a stylus (we had to use fingers). This is not a room for beginners.

My brother and I (both experienced escapers) played this room after one of Game Over’s other rooms, School of Magic (which we both loved) and so, we both had really high hopes. Unfortunately, we found this room to be rather tedious with stunted gameplay flow. And a lot of the issues stemmed from the room having very low light and we were only provided one flashlight between the two of us. The room was actually so dim that even the provided light source was barely adequate in helping us to see well, which ended up causing us to miss several things required to move forward. Also, for one puzzle, the hint system told us one thing but then when we actually spoke with the GM, she told us the solution was the complete opposite of what the pre-recorded video told us. Oh, and the little neon notepad we were provided did not have a writing stylus. In fact, they approached us afterwards to give back the stylus and we told them that we didn’t have one in the first place. Lots of puzzles that just seemed to exist for the sake of being a ‘challenging puzzle’ without any organic flow. Out of the 15 rooms my brother and I played over Memorial Day weekend, this room unfortunately ranked at the very bottom, which is surprising considering how much we enjoyed School of Magic. Now, I should add that the scenic atmosphere and decor were beautiful! Also, we had the opportunity to speak to the owner afterwards and he really was a lovely person. We learned that they were a fairly new company trying to navigate the escape room industry and were trying to soak up and take in all the constructive criticism to heart and at this point, that’s all we can ask for. They are well on their way to becoming a fantastic escape room destination in the Houston area, they just need some tweaks and fine tuning.

Immersive set with a lot of tactile props. It felt like a temple. They were several of fun surprises. It is a linear game but our mixed experience group of 5 had a great time.

The owners were willing to listen to concerns about this game from an enthusiast that has some experience so that’s a plus. I’ll just tell about my experience. The game itself is beautifully decorated except some parts need touching up. There are some decor mistakes that is actually needed to progress so it’s a little frustrating. The experience started off well but the GM in this game kept coming over the microphone to “walk us through”. I’m not a fan with that. Let your players have an experience or ask them ahead of time if they are new and want that service. It seriously breaks from the immersion element. There is a puzzle that the ownership says is going to be redone, that required outside knowledge. At that point all the immersion and fun was kind of sucked from the experience. The late game was the best and well worth the play. Some of the puzzles are crafty but others leave you scratching your head. I’m hoping this game either gets a rework because it can be a fun and entertaining game. Would love to play this again after the rework.